Science! Club: Fossils 10/23/2019
We created our own fossil castings by creating imprints in modeling clay and then filling the imprints with Plaster of Paris. There were a variety of items for everyone to choose from to make an imprint. Everyone lined up to make their imprints with a little help from me and our Science! Club volunteer, Vivienne. You can see the plaster all mixed up in the red bowl, ready to be poured into the imprints.
Patience was key in this experiment as we had to allow the plaster to set and harden overnight before we attempted to peel away the clay and reveal our fossil casting. I hope everyone's fossil casting came out ok!
I had been a little impatient with mine and did not let it set overnight, and we all saw how that worked out. Spoiler alert: It did not work out. Not at all. My fossil casting crumbled as I attempted to remove it from the clay early. So we all got to observe what not to do!
In addition to creating our own fossil castings, we also practiced leaf rubbings with some leaves from the plants that surround the library, paper and pencils. A leaf rubbing is a fun and easy way to record what that leaf looks like in order to identify the plant later, which is especially useful if you do not have a field guide book or internet access available at that moment. You simply place the leaf under a sheet of paper and then using the side of your pencil point, you run the pencil over top of the paper. Presto! The shape and details of the leaf will emerge!
With what little time we had left, we concluded with watching a short video about the Dunkleosteus, a carnivorous fish that lived back in the Devonian era. I had the chance to actually see the real life fossil of a Dunkleosteus head back in Cleveland, OH and wanted to share that experience with others who get as excited as fossils as I do!
I had shared some links during Science! Club and am including them here for you to peruse as you wish. Please make sure you have your parent's/guardian's permission to be on the internet and view these before looking them all up.
Videos We Watched:
Fossil Video
8 Best Fossil Sites in California
Dunkleosteus Video
More Links to Check Out:
Paleontological Society
The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections
Anza-Borrego Desert Paleontology Society
Of course, you can also find many more resources at the library! Visit either of the reference desks if you need help finding more information on fossils.
I hope everyone who was able to attend had as much fun as I did! Next month's Science! Club topic will be Geodes. Doesn't science rock?!
-Miss Melissa
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